Michael Collins on Why Judgment Still Matters in Los Angeles Real Estate

Los Angeles has always been a difficult place to generalize about real estate.

Two homes on the same street can sell for dramatically different prices. Two condominiums in the same building can have very different values. Light, condition, floor plan, privacy, architecture, and even the way a property feels when you walk through the door can change the equation.

After decades of selling homes throughout Los Angeles, Michael Collins has watched buyers and sellers gain access to an extraordinary amount of information. What has not become easier is knowing which information matters.

“Everyone has the data now,” Collins says. “The value is in knowing how to interpret it.”

Online valuations can estimate a home's value in seconds. Buyers can research sales histories and comparable properties before speaking with an agent. Artificial intelligence can analyze enormous amounts of information almost instantly.

But Los Angeles real estate remains unusually resistant to being reduced to an algorithm.

A computer can identify comparable sales. It cannot always recognize why buyers will pay a premium for a particular block, why one condominium commands more than another in the same building, or why a property that photographs beautifully fails to connect once people walk through the door.

That distinction matters even more when pricing a home.

One of the most common mistakes Collins sees is assuming a higher asking price leads to a higher selling price. Sometimes it does exactly the opposite.

“The market will eventually tell you if you're wrong,” Collins says. “The problem is that by the time you listen, you may have lost the most valuable part of your marketing period.”

Preparation requires similar judgment. Not every home needs a major renovation before it is sold. Sometimes staging, paint, landscaping, and thoughtful presentation can materially change how buyers respond. In other cases, sellers spend significant amounts on improvements that buyers neither want nor value enough to repay.

Buyers face a different challenge. With so much information available, it is easy to get consumed by numbers and overlook characteristics you can't change after closing.

“You can change a kitchen,” Collins says. “You can't move the house to another block, give a condominium better light or create a view that isn't there.”

Collins embraces technology for research, organization, and market analysis, but sees it as a tool rather than a substitute for experience.

“Information is becoming easier to get,” he says. “Judgment is still earned.”

That philosophy also shapes the way he represents clients. Sometimes the right advice is not to buy a particular property, not to accept an offer, or even not to sell.

“The commission is one transaction,” Collins says. “The relationship can last decades.”

In a Los Angeles market where virtually every property presents a different set of variables, that distinction between information and judgment may matter more than ever.

Michael Collins is a Los Angeles real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Realty in Beverly Hills and a member of the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury network. Learn more at MichaelCollins.com.